Scorecard

Botany Bay CC 2nd XI v St Albans Cricket Club 4XI on Sat 16 Aug 2025 at 13:00
St Albans Cricket Club Lost by 5 runs

Match report Looking to correct a winless sequence dating all the way back to June, the IVs travelled to Botany Bay to take on the hosts, languishing in second last on the league table - though one of their victories had been on their visit to Sandpit Lane.

Playing at the front ground, with agreeable facilities and a wicket that looked well prepared, Saints were in the field first, under the guidance of skipper Curran, looking to maintain his 100% record as captain.

The new ball was handed to senior bowler Hadden and he immediately hit his straps, shaping the ball past the opening bats in an excellent spell of fast bowling. At the other end, Khatavkar was given the more arduous task of coming up the hill. Quickly settling into a good line, he too challenged the openers with an off stump line, the ball zipping past the outside edge. Khatavkar deserved more for his eight overs straight than the day’s most economical figures.

Still, Botany Bay’s “mature” opening pair had looked resolute, building a platform even with the run rate in check. It took the introduction of Coffer to break the partnership, sneaking through the defences not once but twice for a tidy spell of 2/20. At drinks, the hosts had reached a measured 58/2.

After the break, the game turned. The incoming batters took advantage of that opening platform to lift the run rate aggressively. The wicket had settled down to reveal its true colours - a flat belter - and the outfield was proving lightning fast. Walker (2/42) secured a couple of wickets but like the remaining bowlers saw the ball heading to the boundary too often.

For the most part, the fielding standard stayed high, particularly in the youthful offerings of Coffer and Khedekar, and under the judicious guidance of captain Curran who plotted proceedings well.

Still, with a top score of just 43no, from opposition skipper Wright, Botany Bay had tallied a significant 210/5 in their 40 overs. A successful chase would need someone to stand up with that bat.

Hingston and Maroof were sent out to get things going and they began carefully before Maroof was dismissed. O’Gorman placed the ball with precision to get herself going but she, too, perished. However, at the other end, Hingston was standing up, starting to dispatch anything in his zone to the boundary - and Botany Bay started to wilt, bowling some poor deliveries.

With 15 runs in the last over before drinks, and a tally just shy of a hundred, St Albans had the momentum.

Khedekar and Hingston had added 55 before the partnership was broken. Shaw arrived at the crease, keen to keep up that urgency, and that led to the game’s pivotal moment. On strike, Shaw struck firmly and past the bowler, calling his partner through for a single which was in truth never on. Seizing upon the opportunity, Shah Khan threw to the keeper’s end and the stumps were broken with Hingston a mile out of his ground.

Hingston’s departure for a fantastic 83, from just 76 deliveries, out of a tally of just 107, brought despair to every one of his teammates, none more so than the incriminated Shaw. Hingston, well, he just went for a beer.

But there was still a game up for grabs. After a quiet few overs, Shaw and Coffer started to build a partnership at a good rate, running hard - but safely - between wickets. With another half century added, Saints were still just in the game, even as defensive fields were set. Coffer’s dismissal was followed by Shaw’s in the 35th over, the latter having smashed 43 (play-cricket not keeping an accurate record of proceedings by this stage) to keep the game alive: 36 needed from the last 5 overs.

Khatavkar and Curran brought the game closer, Khatavkar and Walker added a few more before a comical run out, and so it was up to number 10, Hadden, left on strike to find 12 runs in the final six balls. Unfortunately that proved a bar too high, Saints going down by a mere five runs in what was a sterling game of cricket.

For those interested there are video highlights of this game available via the play-cricket score page. It’s full of “fantastic moments”. See https://stalbans.play-cricket.com/website/results/6804010.

In hindsight, this was a good performance from the IVs, who fought all the way to the end. Perhaps this marks a corner turned before the last three games of the season? Up next, second placed Bamville.

Botany Bay CC 2nd XI Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 7w 2b 2lb 
for 5 wickets
12
210 (40.0 overs)		     
Mark McCabe b  J Coffer 18 49 1 36.73
Peter Morley st  B Hingston b A Walker 39 84 6 46.43
Rob Wright lbw  J Coffer 5 6 1 83.33
Kaustav Mitra ct  Shaw b A Walker 33 20 6 1 165.00
Chris Pearce ct  Coffer b T Winfield 27 33 5 81.82
Will Wright Not Out  43 29 8 148.28
Shah Khan Not Out  33 20 3 1 165.00
Waseem Syed  
Jishnu Chatterji  
Hemanth Tummala  
Kartik Ashadhir  

St Albans Cricket Club 4XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Tom Hadden8.024000.005.00
Prath Khatavkar8.012100.002.63
Jamie Coffer5.0020210.004.00
Andrew Walker8.0142221.005.25
Daiwik Khedekar3.002300.007.67
Tim Winfield4.0026126.006.50
John Shaw4.003400.008.50

St Albans Cricket Club 4XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 6w 4b 4lb 
for 8 wickets
15
205		        
Ben Hingston run out  (S Khan) 83 76 11 3 109.21 1
nasibullah Maroofkhel lbw  W Syed 1 10 10.0
Annie O'Gorman ct  K Ashadhir b H Tummala 8 24 33.33
Daiwik Khedekar b  K Mitra 8 22 1 36.36
John Shaw b  S Khan 43 53 3 81.13 1
Jamie Coffer b  W Wright 15 22 4 68.18 1
Prath Khatavkar run out  (S Khan) 11 11 1 100
Joey Curran b  S Khan 5 6 83.33
Andrew Walker Not Out  10 11 90.91
Tom Hadden Not Out  6 6 1 100
Tim Winfield  

Botany Bay CC 2nd XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Jishnu Chatterji8.003500.004.38
Waseem Syed7.0132132.004.57
Hemanth Tummala4.1026126.006.24
Will Wright7.0046146.006.57
Shah Khan8.0026213.003.25
Kaustav Mitra6.0132132.005.33